Business news briefs

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

BP to buy back

$8B in shares

Oil company BP plans to buy back $8 billion in shares after completing a complex deal to sell its 50 percent interest in TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil producer. BP invested $8 billion in cash, shares and assets when it formed TNK-BP in 2003 and received a total of $19 billion in dividends over the next decade.

PepsiCo: No plans

for acquisition

PepsiCo Inc. said it doesn't see the need for any major acquisitions after a newspaper report suggested activist investor Nelson Peltz could push for a merger of the soda giant with Oreo cookie maker Mondelez. The Telegraph of London said Peltz has taken stakes in both companies.

Tiffany 4Q net

income rises

Tiffany said its fourth-quarter net income edged up less than 1 percent to $179.6 million, or $1.40 per share. Revenue rose 4 percent to $1.24 billion. The company, which operates an outlet at City Creek Center, expects its first-quarter earnings from operations to fall 15 percent to 20 percent as a result of profitability pressures and higher marketing costs.

Horse shooting

sparks debate

An Internet video that shows a meat company employee shooting a horse in the head highlights the increasing emotional debate over whether a southeastern New Mexico plant should be allowed to resume domestic horse slaughter. Valley Meat has been fighting the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than a year for approval to convert its former cattle slaughter operation into a horse slaughterhouse.

Darden's 3Q

profit falls

Darden Restaurants' third-quarter net income dropped 18 percent. The company said sales at its Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants open at least a year fell a combined 4.6 percent. For the three months ended Feb. 24, Darden earned $134.4 million, or $1.02 per share, down from $164.1 million, or $1.25 per share, a year ago.

Shutterfly targets

Kodak photo app

Photo service Shutterfly Inc has sued to shut down an Eastman Kodak app that lets users buy photo albums made from pictures stored on Facebook's social media network. Shutterfly bought the Kodak Gallery online photo business for $23.8 million last year, and said Kodak as part of the deal agreed not to set up a duplicate business.

Fitch to review

U.K. debt rating

Fitch has placed Britain's AAA rating on review for a downgrade, a blow to the government just days after it presented an austere budget it argued would put the country on a path to recovery. By putting the U.K. on "rating watch negative," Fitch was indicating there is a possibility of a downgrade in the near term. It expects to complete its review next month.